Mass Effect: The Adventures of Sapphire Shadow
by Shenezia1
Summary: Experience the galaxy three hundred years after the Reaper War with Sapphire Shadow, an ex runner from The Citadel who doesn't remember anything before she was eight years old. Follow her journey as she discovers who she truly is. P.S. This is where my username Shenezia1 comes from.
1. A Fresh Start

Chapter 1

A Fresh Start

It's been three hundred years since The Reaper Invasion. Earth has been rebuilt, the Terminus systems have been recolonized, and things got better for everyone. The year is 2486 and The Citadel is still in power, The Council still handles the 'verse and humans have finally earned their rightful place among The Council races and are no longer considered second rate. But things do change after three hundred years. For example people squabble about credits once more and information is big in trade. Plus rumors have spread that people might fight again. We've had peace for this long, why that would suddenly change I don't know, but I do know the heroic Commander Shepard died one hundred and eighty-seven years ago leaving the galaxy at a ripe age of one hundred and fifty years old. She left everyone in a universe without fear of synthetic machines attacking them ever again. But like I said things change, Commander Shepard will always be remembered. Hell she'll be in history books forever. I'd like it if I became a hero but that's all fantasy stuff, and right now that seemed like a fantasy that wouldn't be achieved. After all, I'm wanted by C-Sec. Name's Sapphire. Sapphire Shadow. I'm human, just became a legal adult today and what was I doing to celebrate my birthday? Not what I wanted to. Instead of enjoying a birthday party I'm running through the lower wards of The Citadel and C-Sec officers are chasing my ass like I was the most wanted criminal on the whole spaceport! Jesus Christ I didn't kill anyone, I warned them about a terrorist threat and this was the thanks I was getting? Bastards.

I threw myself over a wall and landed hard on the other side. I was pissed I couldn't help it. I had dedicated myself to serving Gunner and trained under him for the past five years. But it was all over now. I kept running around corners and dodging dumpsters. Sirens were going off; they were looking for me; for anyone who was with Gunner. I took a deep breath and concentrated on the gap that was coming up fast in front of me. I was down in the loading docks of The Citadel. The gap that was coming up was where a ship was getting ready to take off. There was a small crevice that a person could fit into. It was perfect for a person to crouch down and hang on. "Stop! You are under arrest and held under suspicion of the law! I repeat stop running!" Oh great now they had found me. That was too bad, I wasn't gonna stick around for them to pin Gunner's shit on me. I focused on that sizzling, crackling, power that was inside of me. Blue and black smoky wisps colored the air and collected around me. It filled me up and I jumped off the loading bay plank. I landed on the small platform and curled up into a ball under the small railings. C-Sec had opened blaster fire the moment I jumped off the damn dock.

The ship pulled out and the engines roared to life. C-Sec wouldn't stop this ship from leaving; I was a street urchin, not a big time street overlord. Hell even Gunner wasn't like that. But the idiot was dead now and I was escaping this place. The officers were still firing but I saw Lt. Volkin give the order to cease fire. He was a turian, a good shot as most turians go but his tracking skills were well known on the streets. He looked like most turians, dog-like with his muzzle, and spike fringes ending where the crown of a human's head would be and their spikes served as hair would for us humans. Every turian was different in their face markings. It's what made them unique. Volkin had green markings on his face. Among all the turians I had seen growing up none of them had any green markings on them. But the coloring of his markings weren't all that was different. Most turians had the markings as a pattern covering their entire face. Volkin had green ellipses markings on his cheeks and that was all. I had been one of his informants, a dirty kid who lived on the streets and kept an eye out for crime. You inform an officer of criminal activity and they usually gave you a meal, some extra clothes, or a few credits and told you to scoot. I had given Volkin more than a mug tip though, I told him about a serious smuggle operation and Gunner had gotten us mixed up in it. This was my only way out and Volkin knew it. We made eye contact and he nodded to me. He turned around and told his men to stand down and let me go.

They dispersed and he looked over his shoulder one last time. He tapped his nose and mouth. In response I pulled up the small, clear, see through oxygen mask. Then I pushed in the insignia on the shoulder of my jacket. The symbol lit up with white light and body armor slid over my limbs. He had given me the mask and jacket in return for my information. I raised two fingers in salute then touched my right shoulder and tapped my left hip. He returned the motion and walked away. I bunkered down in my hiding spot and waited for the ride to begin. Two seconds after I had secured myself to the platform with straps the ship left docking port and hit warp speed out of The Citadel. Man no wonder Volkin had given me the straps. Warp speed had a whole lot more kick than I had imagined. I figured out what this crevice was now, it was an old way that mechanics got up and down the outside of the ship for repairs. The platform and runes were still intact but the ladder rungs were gone. I got startled when the body armor started heating up, for a second I thought the thing had malfunctioned and was catching fire. But then I remembered that space is cold and airless, which was why Volkin had given me the stuff. With my fear taken care of I closed my eyes and slept for a couple of hours, being chased down by C-Sec officers can tire a girl out.

When I next woke up it was because it felt like I was in an old tale of what earthquakes were supposed to be like. I noticed that the engine pipes were turning from their original color of a neutral blue to a darker shade of blue and then almost black with a purple ting to it. The color change of metal meant this damn thing was heating up! Would all of my hard work of getting off the Citadel be for nothing? Would my idea of starting a new life be stopped before it ever began? But then something remarkable happened. Vents on the sides of the double engine barrels opened up and blasts of recycled air cooled them off; the exterior of the engines returned to their normal color. Then I saw pieces of rock flash by the ship and things started to feel heavier. It was like a hundred pounds had been stacked on top of my body, gravity. I had a feeling that my body wouldn't be welcoming this change but there was some good news to this recent chain of events. The ship was landing, and it was landing on a planet that I could start fresh on. Then turbulence started to shake the ship again a few minutes after it broke through the atmosphere ring. Just when I thought my bones would fall off the ship quieted and stilled. I looked around at the scenery that was before me. The sky was a light color blue with some purple and green tings and streaks in it. The landscape suggested that there were cliffs somewhere that were part of this region but this area was relatively smooth save for the hills I saw just beyond the horizon. Strange layout for a planet if you asked me, but hey stowaways can't be picky about where they end up. With a sigh I unbuckled the straps that secured my legs, hips, and chest to the platform. I hit the insignia on my armored shoulder and it slid neatly back into the folds of the beautiful craftsmanship that was part of my jacket.

I rolled up the straps and stashed them in one of the many pockets I had discovered the day Volkin had given me the jacket. I hopped off the platform and landed lightly on the balls of my feet and created a small cloud of dust with my boots. I looked cautiously around both sides of the ship to make sure that no one would stop and question me if I walked out into the open. Nobody was around from the ship, but there was a trading post about two hundred yards away. I had a few credits on me, Volkin made sure I had enough for at least one or two decent meals. But I wasn't planning on wasting the credits on food alone. I needed to be smart with my money. I was checking out what was for sale that was legal. I wanted to try the honest way first and see if I could get anything worth having; if not then I would know how to find the underground trade; and if that turned out to be pitiful then I'd turn to the black market but that was my last resort. It was a bad idea to get mixed up in the black market if you didn't have a crew, resources, a rep, or a base of operations. A person could end up dead easily in that grimy trade and I wanted to avoid giving myself a headache for as long as I could.

There was a lot of fresh food at one kiosk like fruit, vegetables, bread, bread substitutes, and various forms of protein. At another kiosk I spotted clothes for civilians and another selection for the working class. It wasn't high maintenance or chaotic like some markets were on the Citadel but it wasn't that bad either. It certainly wasn't as dirty as some of the underground trading could be. There were plenty of people bustling about; men chatting up with their buddies at a local bar, women grocery shopping and trying to keep their little ones near. But was this it or was there more than one strip? I rounded a corner and saw more kiosks that were selling jewelry, ready to go meals, literature, toys, baby care, and weaponry. I didn't own any weapons, not anymore. I unconsciously rested my hand on the outside of my left hip. That's where I had kept my pistol; it shot thermal clips instead of operating on mass acceleration technology. Thermal clips depending on who you asked could be better than ammunition that relied on mass accelerator technology because they always struck your opponent; the reason for that is because the bullet is guided by a heat seeking system, and the shooter didn't have to be as skilled of a shot as say a soldier would have to be. Mass accelerator guns were better in my opinion because they propel a solid metal slug using precisely-controlled electromagnetic attraction and repulsion. The slug was designed to squash or shatter on impact, increasing the energy it transfers to the target. Because of this mass accelerator technology you never run out of ammo, and the reason why that happens is because if you shoot too many rounds the gun over heats. When the gun over heats it will no longer allow you to shoot until it has cooled down again; thermal clips don't work that way.

I eyed up the guns at the armory kiosk and next I knew I was standing right there at the bar. A salarian was running the shop; he had cream colored skin with darker brown markings on his face and milk chocolate colored eyes. He talked fast and in an excited manner like most salarians did. I ignored whatever it was he was saying, I was looking for a pistol and an assault rifle. Those were the kind of guns I had been trained to shoot first by Gunner. I could shoot anything else but I favored pistols and assault rifles. I checked my jacket to see I had nine hundred credits on me. I wanted to try and get a gun, food rations that would last me a couple of days, and some more clothes. I was looking for a cheap mass acceleration pistol, if the cheapest one was too much for my budget I'd just have to settle for the cheapest thermal clip pistol. I was going through the data pad the salarian had provided for his inventory and then something caught my eye. A mass accelerator striker pistol was on sale for three hundred credits! My eyes grew huge; did this salarian understand what he was offering?! A striker pistol had great accuracy and that's what made them a 'must have' for an alliance solider.

They were also expensive. I narrowed my eyebrows in suspicion, there had to be some strings attached to this gun. I waved over the salarian and he stopped talking in mid-sentence with two krogan who were looking at some grenade launchers. One of them had a light green hide and a crest that was dark green. His armor was black with some white patches covering his sides. The other one was a dark brown and his crest was tan colored; he was the bigger one of the two. His armor was a reddish brown color and he had yellow buckles that buckled everything together. The salarian looked at the bigger krogan and smoothly ended his conversation with them.

"Excuse me a minute."

He walked at a brisk pace and stopped right in front of me.

"May I be of service miss?"

I pointed at the striker pistol on the data pad, "I wanna know what the deal on this gun is."

He picked up the data pad and squinted as he read the screen. "It's on clearance. Three hundred credits. Good deal honestly. Would you like to purchase this item?"

The two krogan glanced over at me and one of them grunted. "We're losing patience salarian!" The salarian flinched in response to the krogan's roar. "Yes, yes of course. Coming sir."

I grabbed his arm, "There a place I can practice shooting the gun?"

His eyes went from me to the krogans and he noticed that they weren't hollering at him anymore; they were silent and staring at me.

"What? I um…"

The krogans trudged over and stood next to the salarian.

"Answer the question salarian."

I had a feeling that he wanted to keep himself from being squashed by two blood thirsty killers. "Yes! Yes! Of course you can try out the gun. We have a shooting room in back."

I shook my head and crossed my arms. "I would like to shoot it in an open space."

The brown krogan stepped closer to me and looked me over. "The smell of a warrior is all over you. But you look a bit young for such work."

The salarian handed me the pistol and I looked over the gun with an expert eye. No scratches that I could see, nothing chipped, I even shook it and there were no odd sounds.

"My age is of no concern to you. All you need to be concerned about is whether or not I know how to shoot this thing."

The salarian put himself between me and big brown.

"What exactly did you have in mind miss?"

I directed my gaze over to the archery shooting range on the other side of market. "That's an open space that doesn't have any equipment interfering with the gun. If I'm buying something I'm making sure it's the real deal and I ain't getting shorthanded."

Both of the krogan gave low chuckles and nodded in approval.

"I like the way this kid thinks."

"We want in on this deal too."

The now nervous salarian bowed, mumbled a reply and took us over to the shooting range. I sighted the target down at the end of my lane and lined up my shot. I took a deep breath in and let it out slowly as I pulled the trigger. The slug hit the middle of the target.

Just for extra measure I fired two more shots and caught them on the two outer rings to make sure that the gun was actually shooting my ammo where I was directing it.

"You're a good shot."

I looked over my left shoulder to see big brown cross his arms over his big bulk of a chest.

"Where'd you learn to shoot?"

I lowered the pistol and sat down on a stool that was next to the krogan. "I learned to shoot on The Citadel."

He raised an eyebrow ridge at my answer. "What the hell are you doing out here on this dust crumb of a planet?"

I scowled at him and stood back up. I needed to make it clear that I could handle myself, especially since a krogan was asking me to explain myself to him.

"Do you hear me asking you a bunch of questions?"

My voice sounded low and lethal, it made the krogan take a step back.

"Relax kid, do I look like I'm gonna be turning you in for anything?"

I huffed in response, he was right. Krogans weren't all that big on following the law. They just liked having work, whatever work that may be. There wasn't any reason for me to jump down his throat. I bought the pistol and the salarian gave me a holster for free.

It was a trick that kept customers coming back and I appreciated his token.

"I'll pass word along to anyone else I run across that this shop is the best for weaponry."

The salarian smiled at me, "You seem like a smart kid. You ever need anything for weapons or ammo, come here. I'll give you a discount. You earned me a big salary with those two krogan. I owe you."

I shook his hand and made a split second decision. I had no idea if this tactic would work or not but I was gonna give it a shot, "Business partners should know each other's names."

The salarian gave me an approving smile, looks like he either knew my game and decided he liked me for my choice of words; or he was an honest salesman.

"My name's Qweenik."

I nodded my head in acknowledgment, "I'm Sapphire."

Qweenik bid me farewell and I left to go buy a week's worth of military rations from another kiosk. I bumped into the krogans again when I was leaving with my purchases.

"Hey kid. Long time no see."

I nodded to them and they fell in step with me.

"My name's Rudnek, this is my partner Scyth."

Scyth was the one I had gotten hot headed with at the range earlier.

"I'm Sapphire. Sorry for jumping down your throat earlier. It's been a rough couple days."

Scyth accepted my apology silently while Rudnek asked me a question.

"So what brings you here Sapphire?"

They both had low gravely voices. But I had noticed that Rudnek's voice had a bit more of a nasal sound to it.

I replied in a casual and relaxed tone, "Fresh start."

Rudnek chuckled and laid a claw on my shoulder. "Same for us. I'm gonna be up front Sapphire. Me n' Scyth like you. We're gonna tag along with you for a while. If it's alright with you o' course."

I shrugged and walked over to a kiosk that was selling clothes. I still had about two hundred credits left.

"Fine with me. I'm just getting what I need."

I looked into the full length mirror that was there. My eyes were met with a person who stood at five foot nine and was fit. My hair was a mixture of dark brown with lighter brown streaks. The only thing that my hair allowed me to do was spike it. My hair was thick and it didn't grow fast so it was easy for me to manage. My eyes were true to my name and were a bright piercing blue; the shirt I wore under the jacket was a dark faded green that complimented my figure; the jacket itself was black with silver trimming at the collar and a single strip on each arm. The insignia on my left shoulder was also silver and to top it off I had dark cargo pants on. There were a number of pockets in these pants, which is why I liked them. My holster sat snug on my hips with my pistol tucked safely inside it. I had bought two more shirts; one was white and the other was brown.

Rudnek and Scyth watched me try on the shirts along with another pair of pants. Rudnek insisted on me trying on a pair that didn't look so baggy. When I told the big ol' reptile that I didn't have the money for it he said he'd pay for whatever else I needed.

I wasn't some charity case and I even said so to him but Scyth said, "You're a good shot, so you better look like one."

That shut me up real quick and next thing I knew I had two pairs of pants that were closer fitted than the cargo pants I had on along with some under garments. When the sun started setting Rudnek and Scyth suggested that we get some rooms for the night, and to my pride's shame they told me not to argue about it. So we got joined rooms and ate dinner at a bar. Rudnek was talking up a storm with an asari waitress while Scyth and I ate soup.

"How old are you kid?"

I swirled my spoon around in the bowl and kept my eyes down on my food.

"Eighteen."

Scyth gave an amused snort at my answer, "You're just a sprout."

He downed his drink and had the bartender give him another. Rudnek was as drunk as a pirate and his laughter was booming throughout the bar. Scyth looked away and shook his head at his partner. I was a bit puzzled by these two, krogan normally don't travel together in groups unless they're on business. Scyth and Rudnek said they were here for a fresh start so it clearly wasn't business. No reason to make myself dizzy over this. I'll just ask what the deal is with them, "Krogan normally don't work in groups of two on merc jobs let alone travel together. What makes you two so special?"

Scyth snickered and took a long pull from his mug. "That whelp over there is my brother and we've been doing jobs together since we found each other again after The Reaper invasion."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise and my level of respect for him went up another notch.

"You were around during The Reaper invasion? That was three hundred years ago!"

Scyth nodded his head and finished his mug. He waved a waitress over for a refill, when she left he resumed our conversation.

"Yup. Me and Rudnek were adopted by the Urdnot clan when the clans were still fighting for power and we were trained to fight all those damn husks and much more. Don't know how we managed to stay alive but we did and I remember when those damn things were destroyed right in front of us. I was killing a husk when all of a sudden the enemy just crumpled to the ground and the Reaper ships that were on the planet's surface just toppled over like toys. Other warriors said that the ones in space just plain blew up. Once the fight was done I went back to Tuchunka and discovered that sorry green hide of a brother was alive and celebrating like any proper warrior would."

I rolled my eyes at his last sentence.

"He was drunk off his ass you mean."

Scyth gave a hearty chuckle and nodded, "That damn bastard was as drunk as a thresher maw spewing acid and I was glad to see him. We've been working jobs together ever since."

Once Scyth and I finished our dinner we carried Rudnek back to our rooms and I told the boys good night and I went to bed exhausted from a full day and part of a night filled with activity. I fell into a deep, dreamless sleep and before I slipped into unconsciousness I thought of Volkin and how much I owed him big time.


	2. The Beginnings of A Strong Friendship

Chapter 2

The Beginnings of A Strong Friendship

I woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and ready for action. I knocked on the connected door linking my room to Scyth and Rudnek. I heard thumping on the floor on the other side of the door and Scyth's red eyes looking back at me. His body was pretty large but his head was level with mine, well his eyes were anyway. His crest ended well above my head. "Mornin sprout, why you up so early?" I crossed my arms in front of my chest and narrowed my eyes at him. "For starters my name isn't sprout it's Sapphire, and second I wanted to know if you would join me for breakfast downstairs." Scyth gave me a deep belly laugh and came into my room and closed his side of the door. I waited for him to get clear of my side of the door and I closed it after his tail was out of the way. "Alright, Sapphire I got it, and yes I'll eat with you. Rudnek won't be part of the living till later anyway." I nodded and we went downstairs to the sunroom. It was a cozy room that had wide open bay windows with sunlight pouring in and displaying pools of light on the clean tables. The room itself was polished wood creation that reminded me of the old vids I saw showing pictures of what log cabin interiors looked like in 2012. It was called 'modern look' of log cabin lifestyles. It felt down to earth, may as well use an old saying for something that felt so "old school". Man I was on a roll this morning with the history stuff. I grabbed myself a mixture of mildly spiced salarian cuisine along with some krogan grub. I sat down at a table that gave me a perfect view of what lay outside the bay windows. The sky was painted by purples, pinks, and a ting of orange somewhere in the whole thing. Scyth smirked and shook his head at my plate. "What are you smirking at krogan?" My tone was a bit on the grumpy side, but hey I still was a bit irritated about Scyth's greeting to me this morning. I also wasn't really in the mood for whatever snide behavior he was gonna exhibit at my "silly short lived human nature" like I've heard other krogan talk to humans before on The Citadel. "Nothing it's just I don't think you'll like my kind of food. It tends to wear and tear your kind's stomach."

I defiantly took a forkful of the inquired food and started chewing it. It was a mixture of varen meat with a spicy edge to it and was reinforced with a vegetable I knew was spicy but I couldn't quite think of where the vegetable came from at the moment. All I knew was that I really enjoyed this kind of food and I didn't care to have some lizard tell me that I'd regret eating something. Scyth's eyes blinked multiple times, that was how krogan expressed their surprise. Their eyes couldn't widen. "I can't believe you just did that kid." I smirked and continued eating my breakfast; Scyth drank an energy drink that gave krogans some extra kick to their alertness. Like how coffee or other caffeine beverages gave humans and salarians a bit of a jump start to their day. I finished eating and sat back while Rudnek trudged over to where we were sitting and he scarfed down a plate heaping with food. Scyth told Rudnek what I had eaten earlier and Rudnek stopped eating mid bite and stared at me. "How long ago was that?" Scyth's eyes flicked from Rudnek and settled on me before answering, "The kid ate half an hour ago and she hasn't started belly aching yet." His brother slapped the table as he chuckled, "Well hell if she hasn't started crying by now then she's fine." He turned his gaze from his brother and looked at me. "You sure you ain't part krogan somehow?" I couldn't help it I started laughing, really hard. Nobody had ever said anything like that to me and I thought it was the most hilarious thing in the world. Scyth seemed to think it was funny too because he was smiling and Rudnek himself even let out a chuckle. "Guess I underestimated you kid."

Before I could even open my mouth to object at being called kid, Rudnek knocked his head crest into his brother's. "She has a name Scyth. It's Sapphire. Use it. You don't like it when contracts call you krogan after we've given our names prior to receiving a job offer. That's why we don't take a third of the jobs we're offered is cuz you don't wanna work for an idiot who can't remember your name." Scyth shrugged his shoulders and fiddled with his mug. "This is different. I know what her name is." Rudnek rolled his eyes and I tried my best to hide a grin that was starting to form on my lips. "Exactly dull crest so quit being a hypocrite and use her name." I laughed inside while I watched the scene that was unfolding in front of me and I had more respect for Rudnek. Scyth sighed and nodded. "You're right. It ain't no different than those empty heads we've come across. Sorry Sapphire." "It's okay Scyth, just don't do it again."

After that we left and went back up to our rooms. Rudnek poked his head through the adjoined door and told me to come into their room. I got up off my bed and followed Rudnek into the next room. Scyth was tapping away on a data pad when we came in. "Rudnek you brought Sapphire. Good. Come take a look at this." Rudnek and I drew closer and read the job offer that Scyth was looking at. I looked over the information and my brow furrowed at what I saw. "You two even know who this person is? That's a code name they're using." Scyth and Rudnek both laughed at me and shook their heads. "Rud we should bring her along and give her some on the job training." "I agree brother." Scyth gave me the data pad to look over the job offer one more time. I took the data pad and read it over again. The boss of the operation wanted some people to infiltrate a weapon research facility called Binary Helix and steal some asari prototype biotic weapon back. Apparently this company had stolen the information and was building the weapons along with trying to take the copyrights for themselves. There would be guards in the place, security cameras, drones, the whole works. This boss wanted small numbers for stealth, but strong fighters so the job could be done quickly. The largest the buyer would allow a group to be was five. Hmmm the job certainly sounded interesting. If we got caught we'd be dead, this facility was doing something illegal so if we were captured they couldn't ask authorities for help. They'd have to dispose of us, or they'd buy us off and have us work for them. Personally if I got a good look at the layout and thought it was too much heat I'd back out and give the buyer they're money back. But is that how Rudnek and Scyth operated?

"If you two discover this is more than we bargained for will you guys back out and give the money back?" Scyth snorted at me, "Of course we will. We don't want to die in something as petty as this. We're krogan. If we're gonna die, it'll be honorably." Rudnek nodded in agreement and patted me on the back. "Looks like you already got some experience Sapphire. That's good. It means we don't gotta worry about covering your ass and get the job done at the same time if we take it." Scyth seemed a bit skeptical though about my experience. "You've done this before Sapphire?" I nodded and looked over the schematics of the building, the planet's layout, and the kind of security they had…and then it hit me. I had an idea of what this boss was. "The buyer is an information broker." Scyth looked over the information again and rubbed his crest with a claw. "With the info we've been given for the job this person sounds like an asari commando. Not an information agent." I tilted my head in acknowledgement, "That's what I thought too but look at the information they give on the biotic weaponry. They give us details on what the weapon is originally based off of, not what its purpose is supposed to be. There is more history on the creation of this weapon then there is info on what the weapon does." Rudnek shook his head and blinked his eyes a lot and then he laughed. Krogan are kind of funny to watch when they're surprised. "She's right! I don't know if that information will help us out for the job but it's better to know something about your allies and enemies than to know nothing at all." His brother looked up from the pad, "We taking the job?" Rudnek grasped Scyth's claw with his own and bumped crests with him. "We're taking the job."

Next thing I know me and the boys were back out in the market again. "What are we doing out here again?" I was puzzled about why we were back out here. Scyth was walking on the left side of me while Rudnek walked on the right. Passersby's must be thinking these two were my guards. It would explain the wide berth they were giving us on the street. "We're going back to the weapons kiosk so we can get you another gun, or several." Rudnek jumped in, "One gun won't be enough for this job. It's better to be safe than sorry." Scyth nodded in agreement, "Besides Sapphire you need armor. You'll be dead within seconds on the job if you're not protected." I shook my head at their words and gave them a smile. These two were starting to grow on me. "Okay you're right about having more than one gun but I'm all covered for the armor." Scyth laughed at my remark and his laugh sounded like a harsh bark. It made the little kids that were playing in the street run away. "You couldn't even afford pants and you've got the nerve to tell us you have armor? Perhaps that food went straight to your head and messed with it." I motioned for Scyth and Rudnek to follow me into an alley and I went behind a dumpster so no one could see what we were doing. I was wearing the jacket; I was always going to wear this jacket. "I can prove that I've got armor. Wanna see?" Scyth and Rudnek nodded and they looked around the alley to make sure no one was about. The coast was clear so I pressed the insignia on my shoulder and it glowed a soft white light as the armor came out and slid over my body. The boys were so shocked that their mouths were hanging wide open; I couldn't help but snicker a bit at their reaction. Scyth tried talking first but it wasn't going so well.

Rudnek's jaw unhinged and his response came out in almost a low gurgled cry. "Wha-?" Scyth's claws gripped my shoulders and he narrowed his eyes. I gulped, were they going to kill me? I barely know these two. What did I get myself into now? Rudnek's eyes were bulging out of his head, I'd never seen a krogan so frantic so maybe I wasn't going to die after all, but still you never know. "How is that possible?!" Scyth's grip tightened on me and he growled, "Where did you get this armor?!"I pressed the insignia on my shoulder one more time and the armor was gone again. "Guys, guys one question at a time. I got this jacket from a friend off of The Citadel." Scyth shot Rudnek a look and told him to calm the fuck down. Then he turned back to me and exhaled loudly, "Where did your friend get it from sprout?" Rudnek was trying to get himself back under control and his voice was still a bit shaky when he asked me another question. "You realize this could get you traced?!" I sighed and took a deep breath. I understood their concern; after all they didn't know what I did on The Citadel before I met them. All they knew was that I had been on jobs before and I knew how to shoot a gun. They didn't even know I was a vanguard yet. "Rudnek, Scyth relax. I have a friend who works for C-Sec. He's the one who gave this to me before I left." I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned back into the alleyway wall. "Sprout you better tell us what happened for you to get this jacket and from C-Sec none the less." Rudnek wasn't even scolding Scyth this time he was too worked up himself. "Scyth is right Sapphire. We need to have a talk. Back to the hotel. Now." So we went back to the hotel, and in quite a hurry too. Scyth sat me down on the bed in their hotel room and Rudnek closed the door. Scyth pulled out a chair and sat down while Rudnek sat on the other bed across from me. "Alright Sapphire, tell us what you used to do on The Citadel and how you got this jacket." "Okay, okay. I'll tell you. I've been on The Citadel ever since I can remember. I was a street kid most of my life. I was a runner for the local street gangs, C-Sec officers, and whoever else needed me to run for em. It was a living and a good way to stay alive; better than picking pockets or declaring allegiance to a gang when you didn't know what you were getting yourself into."

I took a drink of water and continued. "When you're a runner you learn a lot of info about a lot of people and the things that go on around the city. I knew that a new gang had quite the reputation for being chivalrous. They stole from the rich and gave to the poor, kinda like that old tale about Robin Hood. They also kept other dangerous street gangs from taking over their turf. Some peace and order was coming to the street life on The Citadel and the C-Sec officers didn't seem to mind so they stayed out of their way. The leader of the group was called Gunner. He used to be a merc on Omega and was well known for his marksmanship and all the guns he had on his person so that's how he got the name. He was tired of Omega's crime though and decided to leave. I was at a turning point in my life and I figured there was no harm in me joining his crew if it meant I could help out good people. I was thirteen, I wanted to be a hero and have some glory so I joined up with him. I was still a runner but I only ran messages for C-Sec and my crew to make sure that we had the upper hand in case if some gang was stupid enough to take us on. Gunner taught me how to shoot thermal guns and mass accelerator guns. Everything that ranged from pistols, assault rifles, shot guns, and snipers I learned how to shoot em, take em apart, and update them so they had more of an edge. With my shooting skills he made me one of his scouts. I was his third in command for the first three years I was with him. Being a scout for Gunner meant you were a sniper that was always first at the scene. It also meant that you were the strategist and had to know the layout, what you were dealing with for enemies, the weapons they had and so on.

Being a runner had paid off for my position. The last two years I was Gunner's second in command. The crew thought of me as commander. Things were going well for the last six months but then Gunner got a job offer to smuggle what we thought were weapons onto The Citadel. I don't know what made Gunner take this job but the son of a bitch had lied to us. He told us we were helping smugglers bring weapons to a weapons seller in the market. The operation in reality was much worse. The cases weren't filled with guns they were filled with a bio weapon that was gonna be put into the water supply and kill a third of the space port. The rest would be very sick and god knows what else would have happened. I was meeting a client one night when they told me what was really going on. The information was solid. I went to C-Sec immediately and told them what was going to happen the next day. When C-Sec got there the next day to stop it the smugglers thought Gunner had sold them out and killed him. I had given the crew a pep talk before the gig went down and I told them what was going on. I couldn't let my crew pay for Gunner's stupid mistakes so when C-Sec came they all bolted. The C-Sec officer that I dealt with over the years gave me the time and place of a ship that would be leaving port around that time and we planned to have me get off The Citadel. He gave me an oxygen mask and this jacket and told me to start a new life somewhere else and wished me luck."

Scyth was pacing the room after I had finished explaining myself and Rudnek just sat there on the bed. Finally Scyth turned to me and sat back down again. He heaved a large sigh, like he was gonna give me bad news. Was he gonna tell me that Gunner wasn't dead? "Sapphire what is your last name?" "Uh, my last name's Shadow. Sapphire Shadow. Why?" Scyth and Rudnek exchanged glances, what the hell was going on? "We've heard about you." "When you said your name was Sapphire we didn't think you could be the same one we had heard about but-" Scyth interrupted Rudnek and finished his sentence for him. "But we were wrong." Heard of me? I knew I had a rep but I couldn't have been so famous that word of me would ever go off The Citadel. I mean I was a street rat, a runner, a kid who joined a street gang. How could they have heard of me? "What do you mean you've heard of me?" Rudnek tapped me on the shoulder and I turned around so I was facing him instead of Scyth. "We were on The Citadel the day that happened. A vid got out that C-Sec had stopped a threat in progress and they had gotten a tip from a local street ganger about the event." Scyth came over and sat down next to me on the other bed and continued Rudnek's story. "Later on that night Emma Wong gave a live report that an anonymous person gave her station a tip about the local gang member that saved the citizens on the space station. She said Sapphire Shadow was responsible for stopping a chemical weapon from spreading throughout The Citadel. She also said that you mysteriously disappeared after the incident so you couldn't be interviewed." I couldn't believe my ears. If I hadn't been sitting down already I would have fallen over by now from the shock of the news they had just told me. A hero? I was reported in the vids as a hero? That meant the smugglers knew who really got them bagged and if any of them ever got out of prison I was dead. Hell these guys had to have friends, and they were just delivery boys for whoever wanted that weapon put on The Citadel. Whoever that person was now knew why their plan had failed and they were gonna want revenge… did Volkin know this would happen…why didn't he warn me if he suspected it would?

Rudnek rested his claws on my shoulder and tried to comfort me. "That's not all Sapphire. That jacket you're wearing with the armor that's hidden in it. Bits and pieces of that armor belonged to Commander Shepard." My heart stopped. I swear to god my heart had stopped. I had to be dead now. No Rudnek must have hit me really hard in the head. Or I was hallucinating. Yeah, or I was dreaming. I must have dozed off in their room and I was dreaming the whole thing. Either way I was staring into empty space and I didn't say a word. Scyth waved his hand in front of my face. When I didn't respond he stuck his face in front of mine. "Sapphire can you hear me?" I tried to swallow but my throat was so dry and I felt really warm all of a sudden. The room was also spinning a little bit. Oh man, I don't think I feel so good. "Rud, call for someone to come up here and check her temp. The kid's as white as you were when you cracked your crest open that time you fell into a thresher maw nest and almost got eaten. " "I ain't gonna call for something like this Scyth." He walked past us and opened the door. "I'm gonna go ask for a thermal scanner and take it myself. We don't need people asking questions dull crest." And with that he closed the door and left. Scyth gave me more water to drink and he was trying to soothe me. Which is not something that krogan are used to doing so he was having a tough time with it. "Sapphire it's okay. You saved people from dying, that's a good thing…err... Nothing wrong for being a hero huh?... gaw come on kid snap out of it! I don't know how to do this kind of stuff."

I finally managed to get my voice to work, though it was a raspy whisper and I was still feeling woozy. Poor Scyth was wringing his claws over my reaction. I needed to tell him something, offer some kind of an explanation. It would be childish to say that knowing parts of my armor was Commander Shepard's so I wouldn't say that. Besides that though I was concerned by what the boys told me about Ms. Wong said on the extranet. That's what I could say, "The guy who…who wanted that weapon to be delivered knows my name…He's gonna track me Scyth…I'm gonna be killed…" Scyth crouched down so his eyes were level with mine and he rested a reassuring hand on my lap. "That what you're all worked up for? Shit Sapphire you've got me n' Rudnek. We fought in the Reaper invasion and we survived that. Don't think some whack job is gonna get through us. We'll protect ya. Krogan make damn good body guards. Wrex Urdnot was a body guard for someone for thirty years before he died of natural causes. Don't worry." Scyth did have a point. I wasn't alone now, I had friends, and friends that were pretty damn tough to last in the Reaper attack and actually witness the downfall of the Reapers. We'd figure something out. But there was something else that was bugging me. Something I needed to find out. "How the hell do I have Commander Sheppard's armor in my jacket?" "Don't know kid but you're shaking pretty bad and I bet you've got a fever. Looks like that grub finally hit ya from this morning." The door opened and Rudnek came in and shut the door shaking his head. He was muttering about how annoying salarians were and brought the thermal scanner over to the bed where Scyth had made me lay down. "Dumb salarian kept asking questions and wouldn't shut up about a krogan asking for a thermal scanner. Kept saying he'd never thought he'd see the day a krogan was smart enough to be concerned about their health. I shoulda put his head through a wall." He scanned my whole body and the screen beeped. "What the hell is this? It's saying error." Scyth held out his hand and Rudnek gave it to him. "See if you can make it work." Then Scyth took a reading of his own and his brow ridges narrowed in frustration. "Must be malfunctioning. Just sleep tonight and drink plenty of fluids. If it gets any worse we'll get ya looked at."

I still felt hot and shaky but I nodded and tried to get up so I could go back to my room and sleep but I felt too weak to move and the effort made my body shake even more. "Oh son of a-" I didn't get the chance to finish my sentence cuz Scyth scooped me up from the bed. The sudden movement made me very dizzy and I buried my head into Scyth's cool armor and groaned. Krogan never took their armor off and I felt very grateful at that moment for it. It felt like the room was swaying everywhere and I just wanted everything to lie still. Scyth carried me into my room and pulled the blankets back. Then he set me down gently which surprised me and he drew the blankets back up and tucked me in. For a moment I felt like a kid being put to bed by their parent and I couldn't help but feel safe and taken care of while Scyth entered my bathroom and filled up several cups with water for me to drink. "We'll check on you every hour to see how you're doing. Night Sapphire." Scyth was closing the door and I murmured back, "Night Scyth." And I fell asleep.

_White walls surrounded me and I felt partially blind from the artificial lights. I was in a room and my heart was hammering. Two figures were on the other side of the glass and bent over a terminal. One was human the other was salarian. Their voices were excited and muffled. They thought I couldn't hear them but I could hear them a little bit and I had learned to read lips. Sometimes I wish I didn't learn how to read lips. I was strapped down. My wrists and legs were in cuffs that were bolted to the table and there were wires taped to my head. I figured out that's how they got information from me. Every time they did this there'd be more tests to follow and I hated these tests. They made me tired, cranky, and sometimes it hurt. I didn't like it at all._

_The human talked first. "Look at her psych levels they're even higher than before!"_

"_DNA fusion 1 is holding steady as always for the past six years. I think we should have attempted distributing DNA fusion 2 six years ago along with this fusion. Her body accepted one DNA fusion very easily. She would have been perfect candidate to have two DNA fusions."_

"_How'd they get this DNA fusion? That Spectre's been dead for almost two centuries now!"_

"_Klimek let me give you some advice for this job. Don't ask questions about where this comes from, why we're doing it, and how we get the funding for it. Just do what they assign you and nothing more."_

"_Yeah, sure, whatever Bruel. Okay let's attach DNA fusion 2. Engaging DNA fusion sequence…now."_

"_What? No Klimek don't engage sequence!"_

_Pain seared my skull and it spread to my neck, then my chest, after that my arms and then it spread out to the rest of my body. I was screaming in agony. It felt like fire was following my bloodstream and burning everything that was in its path._

"_GODS! Stop the program!"_

"_I can't stop it! Once it's in her bloodstream that's it. What the hell is going on?!"_

"_DNA fusion 2 should have been given to her at an earlier age. Body is having trouble adjusting to DNA fusion. Early age body doesn't fight back so much. Willingly accepts DNA mutation. Been done millions of times in other studies. She's too old!"_

"_What do you want me to do Bruel? I can't just undo the program!"_

"_You shouldn't have done it in the first place! I'll kill you myself if she dies! She's valuable!"_

I jerked in my sleep and startled myself awake. I gasped and sat up in bed. I didn't know where I was and I didn't want anyone hurting me again. I was hot, sweaty, and my heart felt like it was going to burst. I heard quick, heavy footsteps and a door slam open. A krogan was in my room with an assault rifle in his hands. His face was dark brown, crest was tan though….krogan…dark brown…tan crest….Scyth! I knew where I was now. I was in a hotel room adjoined to Scyth and Rudnek. Scyth quickly scanned the room for enemies and I was still trying to get myself to calm down. Rudnek came rushing in next and looked for enemies as well. Rudnek stepped over to the bed to check and make sure I was okay. "What happened?" "If they hurt you I'll kill em!" Rudnek felt my forehead and frowned. "She's okay Scyth. Her fever spiked again. Get her some more water." Scyth grabbed one of the cups next to my bedside and went into the bathroom to fill it up again. When had I drank the other cups? I didn't remember drinking them. Rudnek got me resettled and put a cooling pack on my head. "We heard you moan and grunt. We thought someone was trying to kidnap you. You must have been dreaming." I was still shivering. There was a knot in my stomach. A cold, hard knot that made me feel like something awful was going to happen. Just like I did in my dream. "I-I was in a room. I was strapped down. Helpless. I-I couldn't escape. Some people were torturing me. It-it felt so real." Scyth came back with my water and held it for me while I drank it. When I was finished they both sat on the end of the bed. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up." "Don't be sorry Sapphire. I told you we'd protect you and that's what we were prepared to do." Rudnek grunted, "Scyth's right Sapphire don't apologize. You were dreaming. You didn't know you were making noise." Scyth grabbed the door knob and started closing the door. "Go back to sleep sprout. We're gonna go gun shopping tomorrow and then head out for the job." I closed my eyes and slipped into a black dreamless sleep while Scyth stayed in my room and cleaned his armor.


	3. Operation Binary Helix

Chapter 3

Operation Binary Helix

Qweenick was very happy to see Rudnek and Scyth back at the store, but he was even more excited to see me walking in between them. "Sapphire! My friend it is good to see you again. I see you made friends in the Urdnot brothers. How may I be of service to you? I have you put down on a twenty-five percent discount." Scyth and Rudnek smirked at Qweenick's statement and Rudnek handed me a credit chit. "Here Sapphire. You're part of the team now. You get yer own chip. There's five thousand credits on it. Don't tell him that though or yer price might go up." I took the credit chit with a smile and gripped Rudnek's claw firmly as I gave him a good strong handshake. "Thanks Rudnek." And with that I went over to Qweenik's kiosk. I needed an assault rifle, a sniper rifle, and a semi-automatic gun. With a smile I asked, "How are you Qweenik?" "Very well thanks to your help and your generous friends. How'd you end up with them?" I shrugged my shoulders, "They liked my style and offered me a job. I took it." Qweenik nodded his head eagerly, "Good that you travel in such company. They'll keep you safe. Anyway what are you looking for today?" I ticked off my fingers what I needed as I went through the list in my head, "I'm looking for an assault rifle, sniper rifle, and a semi-automatic." Qweenik left the register and went to the back wall. "Normally I'd show you decent guns, but I have seen you shoot and you're honest so I'll show you a special selection." Qweenik then hit a few keys. A panel slid open and Qweenik waved me in to follow him inside. I did so and I saw four racks of very high tech looking weapons. My eyes skimmed over the well cared for weapons and I noticed that each of the hilts had the same unique marking on them. It was the same marking that was on my jacket. It was an arrowhead pointed down with a circle underneath it. "Qweenik, what exactly is this marking on the guns?" "Spectre status symbol. I know you're not a spectre…least not yet."

Not yet? What the hell was he insinuating? Was I somehow being watched for possible recruitment? Well given my history of actions and deeds I did show a flare of potential for being a good spectre but I'd be upholding justice for The Council. I wasn't sure if I was the right material for that. "Anyway I suggest you take these. Each gun sitting on this table is light enough for you to carry with ease judging by your height and body type. Give it a try." He handed me the semi-automatic and I picked it up from his hands. It was indeed light but it still had some heft to it, the correct heft that a professional shooter would look for in a gun. However professional shooters typically had their guns custom made so that it fit them perfectly. Qweenik didn't know me well enough to have gotten this down so perfectly. Either I was a fantastic outlier in the world of statistics or something was going on. I was willing to bet the second option more. I tried the rest of the guns. They all fit me perfectly. "So what do you think?" "I think this is too good to be true." Qweenik's friendly smile turned into a sullen sad look. I seemed to have hurt his feelings. Touchy fellow. "I'm sorry that you do not yet trust me." "Let me finish Qweenik." He fell silent and gave me a courteous slight bow. The guy certainly had style. "I think this is too good to be true of the regular weapons salesman. However, you and I are business partners and I am impressed with your skills Qweenik." I gave Qweenik a smile and shook his hand reassuringly. His face lit up with the compliment and he returned my handshake with his own eager handshake. "Superb! My shop is always open to you Sapphire. Just ask and I'll find the weapons or technology that you're looking for." "Thank you Qweenik. You're a good friend and wonderful business partner." "As to you Sapphire."

We paid for the guns and Qweenik suggested that I take a look at his armor weapons racks. I talked it over with Rudnek and Scyth and we decided I should allow Qweenik to be in on our group secret about my armor. After all he did seem to be quite the techy with my gun weights based off of my height and weight alone. So we all went into the back room and I showed Qweenik my armor. His eyes grew a tad bit larger than normal. "So is there a way that you can make this work?" Qweenik circled me and muttered quietly to himself. Too quietly for us to understand him but I knew he was thinking up ways of making this work. He inspected my armor and had me retract the armor so he could also examine the jacket. He went to a desk and was tapping furiously away on his data pad when he suddenly turned around and exclaimed he had an idea. "I've heard of this new technology that's been put into things like your jacket but I thought it was still only a concept, an idea not an actual prototype yet. I can try and create compartments that can conceal your weapons on your back. The compartments themselves will serve as your rack just fine. The trick is to figure out how they can be effectively hidden in the jacket and at the ready when you have armor on. Give me six hours and I'll have something for you. Till then take this suit of armor with you. There are other guns here you can choose from for your mission but leave these here with me." Scyth and Rudnek stood on either side of Qweenik and looked down at him with aggressive sneers on their mouths. "If we come back and you're gone salarian…" "Or if you don't have her jacket we'll know what to do with you." Scyth jabbed a claw into Qweenik's chest menacingly, "Understand?" Qweenik gulped in fear. The poor guy, I could tell he had no intention of screwing me over and these two gaining up on him proved it at that moment. "Scyth, Rudnek ease up. He won't betray our friendship and trust." I gave him an apologetic smile. Then I tried to lighten up the mood with some humor. "Besides, Qweenik's seen me shoot a gun. He knows I won't miss." Rudnek and Scyth snorted at my joke and let Qweenik go. He took a deep breath and seemed to mentally recompose himself. "Thank you Sapphire for your confidence in me. I shall see what I can do for you about this jacket. Now go. You're running out of time. Go do your job."

Rudnek and Scyth walked me to the outskirts of the market and a small, nimble gunship sat there waiting for us. The hull was a royal blue, the wings and engines had two stripes of white running down its sides and it had double engine thrusters. I stopped walking and stared at the ship. Double engine thrusters! This was the ship I'd stowed away on to get off The Citadel. _We were on The Citadel the day that happened._ Rudnek and Scyth had their own ship and this thing was a real beauty and it saved me from being arrested. Scyth and Rudnek turned around when they realized I wasn't walking with them anymore. "You getting cold feet sprout?" "Remember how I said I jumped off The Citadel? Well this is the ship I bunkered down in." Scyth and Rudnek shared a look and turned back to me. Oh shit did I just break one of their unwritten rules? Scyth pointed a claw at me, "You got onto this ship without us detecting you?" Rudnek frowned, "How? Show us." I went to the back of the ship and pointed to the old mechanic rail. "Here." Scyth examined the crevice and snorted. He waved Rudnek over and he looked over my hiding spot too. "Didn't even know that was there." Rudnek stared at where I had hidden with almost disbelief when he spoke. Scyth grabbed his brother, "Come on we need to head out." Rudnek took control of the helm while Scyth got me outfitted with the armor Qweenik had given me. Scyth guided the chest plate and pulled it down over my head and it sat nicely on my bosom. I did up the straps on the sides while he clipped on leg gauntlets. When that was finished he helped me step into the armor plating for my hips and he cinched the straps so the armor hugged my quads. I got my arm plating on and Scyth buckled up the last piece of my armor, the outer casing for my mid-section. I looked around for a helmet but I couldn't find one. "Sorry sprout no helmet." "My head is an open target begging to be shot by a sniper." My tone was irritated and it seemed to make Scyth laugh. Glad my bad mood could lift up his. "Binary Helix isn't expecting us so your head will be safe. Besides, a helmet constricts your vision. You've never worn armor before so it's best if we don't obstruct your vision." I nodded and sat down while Scyth put together my weapons rack and attached the pieces to my back.

He clipped each gun into its case and instructed me to grab each gun. He asked for my assault rifle, I took it off of my back left shoulder blade. He then asked for my semi-automatic, I went for my right shoulder blade and pulled it up out of its case. Then he requested to see my sniper, I stretched my arm back again to the space in between my shoulders and drew it from its case. Then he asked for my pistol. I gave him a sly smile and drew it quick from my left thigh. I had discovered there was a holster there and I had clipped my pistol into it when Scyth wasn't looking. His brow ridges went up briefly then back down to their original position and a laugh emerged from deep in his throat. "Very good Sapphire. Nice placement, easy to reach, and an element of surprise." He was giving me a compliment and I felt my heart swell at his remark. From what I had gathered so far he didn't give compliments out very often so for him to give one was a real treat. Rudnek's voice floated back to me and Scyth in the cargo hold. "Touching down in a few minutes you two." I reassembled my gear and Scyth put his helmet on. It covered up his whole face the only thing I could see were his eyes and they glowed a bright red through his mask. Rudnek was the same way but his eyes glowed yellow. We got out of the ship and I scanned the landscape, it was rocky and I could make out the corner of a building nestled up near the top of a peak of a mountainside. "You just had to land us so far away from the facility didn't you?" Rudnek checked his shotgun and retorted, "Sapphire their scanners are designed to pick up aircraft and this is where their range ends. We have to go in on foot." I nodded, Rudnek was right. I just didn't like the idea of walking two miles over broken up ground and then trekking another half-mile up a mountain. "Okay let's get going."

Rudnek, Scyth, and I made our way up with no problems. We took a couple of breaks once we started climbing up the mountain. Rudnek and Scyth were getting tired out; I smiled at their heavy breathing. I wasn't breaking a sweat yet. They drank from their water pouches and stored them back into their armor and we pushed off again. We made it up to the peak by dark. I was ducked behind an outcropping while I was getting a visual scan and life scans for the building. Our target was located on the third floor in a computer. My job was to get that data off their systems and replace it with a virus that would cause the remaining weapons to burn themselves out and die. Rudnek and Scyth would make sure that security vids and detectors would be shut down and they'd knock out any witnesses that came across us. The plan was simple, get in get out and make sure no one knew we were there. So far I picked up only minimal staff on first and second floors. With the building layout we were given the prints showed we could go straight to the third level without having to enter the ground floor by using the outcroppings surrounding the facility. Scyth had given me an ear piece; both he and Rudnek had ear pieces of their own. His voice crackled in my ear. "What do we got?" I looked over my readings and responded, "We've got twenty life signs on level two. Level one has fifteen. Third level doesn't have any life signs, I bet it's all machinery up there. There's gotta be mechs in there." Rudnek's voice chipped in through the ear piece. "She's probably right. Sapphire see if you can find a way to shut off security drones and such in that room you're going to. We don't have any access to that over here. The less mechs we shoot the less noise. Less noise means more of a chance of not getting caught." "I'll see what I can do Rudnek. You two be careful." "Roger." "Got it. Meet ya inside sprout."

I jumped off of the ledge and slowed my descent down with my biotics so I could have more time picking my next landing spot. I continued to do that till my last two jumps. They were short jumps and easy to land so I sped up and I got up next to the wall. I scanned for nearby life signs, there were none and I climbed up a few rocks where a window was located. "You inside yet guys?" "Yup. Which window you at sprout?" "Third one west sector." I heard a click and the window slide open. Scyth held it open like a gentleman and bowed his head slightly, but he had a smirk on his face. "After you miss." I chuckled and jumped onto the platform and walked past Scyth and I mocked the voice of a spoiled rich woman. "Why thank you. Such a draft outside you know." Scyth chuckled and closed the window quietly and relocked it. Rudnek walked towards us and pulled up the schematics again. "These are the exits of the floor. Memorize where everything is. Sapphire you go ahead and do your job. Scyth and I will be waiting for you." He pointed at the southwest sector of the map where docking was. There would be plenty of crates for them to hide behind and it gave them a view for trouble if any came their way. "We'll be here." I nodded and headed for a duct vent. I managed to get up there easily and I was small enough to fit in the vent. I crawled for about twenty feet and turned right, and then I went for another fifteen feet and turned left. I saw my exit and took the screen off and I slid my body over onto a support pillar. I replaced the screen and I ran quietly down the support beams. They were six inches wide and I stopped behind another pillar and got a view of what lay fifty feet below me. There were machines of course, I couldn't see any mechs that were active but I did notice that there were a couple of people here. I counted two humans, a salarian, and a turian. They were going over data, my skin crawled. It reminded me of the dream I had the other night. I shoved the feeling to the back of my mind and tapped my ear piece. "Scyth, Rudnek we've got four people here. Two humans, a salarian, and a turian. They're wearing lab coats so they most likely don't have weapons. I haven't seen any mechs active here yet but I'll get into the systems and see what I can do." "See if you can get them to go somewhere else." "You got it."

I dropped down and snuck into a research room that wasn't being used. I locked the door and kept the lights off. I booted up a terminal and hacked into the system. Let's see now if there is a security code for drones and mechs... I went through a couple of data banks and found the security network. I brought up the network and I shut off all armed systems which included mechs and drones. I went through employee emails and discovered that this level was biotic engineering while the second level was weapons, armor, and vehicle transports. Let's send an email to the manager of this floor under the armor shielding research unit manager's name and ask them to meet. I clicked a few keys and sent the email. There that outta give us some time. I watched the team leave the other research lab across the room and I snuck out of my hiding spot. "Okay Rudnek, Scyth coast is clear." The boys met up with me in the main research lab and I went through the data banks and recovered the data our boss wanted and I wiped the rest of the program clean and replaced it with the virus. "Okay you guys. Those people should be coming back soon. Go make sure they take a nap." Scyth and Rudnek smirked and got their canisters ready. The gas inside them would make the others lose consciousness and once they were out we'd bring them back to this room and set them up in their stations and let the rest unfold. I had about two minutes till the boys would bring our guests back in so I needed to see what other fun gadgets I could get our hands on. Oooo armor upgrades. Scyth and Rudnek could use more space for medigel packs, kinetic barriers that are increased by twenty percent nice and stabilizing gauntlets. Let's just put in two orders here for the next shipping order, Qweenik's store is already in here good we'll just add two orders each for the upgrades on krogan armor. Perfect. That should do it. Oh and we can use the facility's own funds to cover this, don't need Qweenik paying for this. There we go.

I could hear shuffling in the hallway and I brought the mainframes login screen back up. It sounded like Scyth but you never know. I crouched down under the terminal's screen and withdrew my pistol. The door opened and the boys were carrying the scientists over their shoulders. "Sapphire help us get them back into their stations." I holstered my gun and helped Scyth put the director of the project back into his chair, salarian of course. Then we got the other three put into their stations and closed the door on our way out. "How long till that wears off?" Scyth looked around the corner and gave us the all clear. "About fifteen minutes for the turian and humans, ten minutes or less for the salarian. Damn metabolism." I nodded and turned to head back to the unattended research lab. "Okay. I just need to turn their systems back on and I'll meet you outside." Scyth and Rudnek headed out the entrance they came from. "Hurry Sapphire." I went back to the other room and quick turned the systems back on and I wanted to save myself some time so I used my biotics to give me an extra boost. I jumped from the walkway back up to the support beams and ran back to the vent. I got myself inside just in time. The salarian was awake. "Wha- what happened?! What are you all doing sleeping at your stations! Wake up!" I crawled as quickly and quietly as I could back to where I came from. I was about to open the other vent when I heard voices. "We've got a virus in the asari biotic enhancers. Get one of your experts down here and fix this!" The salarian was at a terminal at the other end of the hall. "What do you mean it can't be fixed?! I refuse to believe the program had bugs in it. The asari are not that careless. No we haven't started mass production yet. We were in our third stage of testing. You're not the one who has to tell the boss the project is over! Ugh!" He stomped down the corridor and went back inside the research lab. I swung myself out of the vent quietly and got out through the window. I got up onto the railing and biotic jumped my way back to the top of the rocks and tapped my ear piece. "Rudnek, Scyth I got out okay. The salarian found my new program already and he's angrier than a krogan in a blood rage. Job's done."

Rudnek roared with laughter into my ear piece. Scyth's chuckle was much quieter and they both told me to get my ass back to the ship so we could deliver the data. I took a step forward back to the ships direction and a chunk of outcropping dropped from under my back leg. It fell and hit the window's balcony below and alarms began to go off. "Shit! Rudnek the alarm just got tripped. Get that ship up in the air and pick my ass up!" His voice sounded a bit worried. "What the hell happened?" "Some ground broke under my heel and hit the balcony below and the alarm went off-" I trailed off as I heard drones fire at me. I turned around in time to avoid blaster fire. "Drones! Rudnek get me outta here!" I pulled my semi-automatic from my right shoulder and shot down a drone to my left. Three other drones fired at me and I brought up a biotic shield while I shot down two other drones. More were coming and I couldn't stay here. I took off at a dead sprint and I rolled to the side as a drone shot at me. I got my gun up and blew the thing apart. Some pieces hit me and I roared into my ear piece as more came. "I'm heading back to your direction Rudnek! You better get me in one piece or I swear to god I'll come back from the dead and haunt your ass for the rest of your life!"

I ran at a dead sprint and jumped off the peak and down to the outcroppings below while drones continued to fire at me. I used my biotics to warp two drones twenty feet above me while five others weaved out of range and started blasting at me again. I jumped from cropping to cropping and got myself behind a decent sized boulder and put my semi-automatic away and pulled out my sniper. I quick did an analysis of where the drones were and I took a deep breath. I put the scope up to my left eye and shot at a drone that was thirty feet up in the air and fifty-five degrees to my left. I swiveled to my right twenty degrees and shot another one fourteen feet away and I got hit by two of its shots. My right shoulder seared with pain and my eyes were blinded momentarily. When I could see again I shot three more drones in a row that were almost right on top of me and I ducked under the boulder as the last five fired at me again. "Hold on sprout! We've got a lock on your location and closing in on you!" I could feel my heart hammering in my ears, my chest heave up and down and my fingers twitch with pent up energy. I closed my eyes and focus on creating a large ball of energy in my palms. I opened my eyes and I had a black ball with a blue ring of fire surrounding it. There was no fire of course but that's what it reminded me of at the moment. I looked around the boulder and I could see the two drones rushing in fast. I came from behind the boulder and with a terrific yell I threw the biotic energy ball at the drones; they were only fifteen feet above me. It consumed them and blew up into a statically charged flame that engulfed an entire thirty feet radius. The ship was twenty feet away from the discharge. "Sapphire!" Scyth's voice sounded alarmed and filled with anguish, he thought I was in that blast.

"Scyth I'm over here." I ran out into the open field of rocks and Rudnek opened the loading ramp enough for me to jump on and he took off from the research facility. The door was closed now and I had dragged myself over to one of the crates and leaned my back against them. I was breathing pretty heavy and I looked myself over. My right shoulder was wounded, my chest plating was scorched but no chips were in it. My left side felt kind of numb though, I twisted a bit and pain filled my side and stars exploded in my eyes. When the stars cleared I could see that the casing on my left side was cracked wide open and drone pieces were deep in my flesh. I was bleeding pretty badly; this must have happened when I shot that drone and it blew up. I heard heavy footsteps coming down the stairs fast; it had to have been Scyth. He came running down them at a dead sprint and he was at my side in nano seconds. "Sapphire! You're wounded." He drew me away from the crates and picked me up like I was nothing more than a wee child. He brought me back up the stairs and instead of turning left where the cockpit was he turned right and passed the bunks and he went straight into a room that look like an infirmary. He laid me down on a table and undid the buckles on my outer core armor. He had me sit up and my body screamed in pain, or maybe it was me that was screaming. He slid the armor off and took off my chest plating; then he set me back down and my sweat soaked body touched cold metal and I was shaking. "Hold on Sapphire. I'll remove the pieces and stitch ya back up. We'll worry about blood transfusions later."

He grabbed some utensils and the room felt like it was moving. He took out the first hunk of drone metal and I bit my lip to stop myself from crying out but it did no good. I yelled fiercely each and every time he pulled out another hunk of metal and I wanted the pain to stop. I was breathing fast and shallow now and the only reason I knew I was still alive was because of the pain and the cold steel of the table beneath my back. "Stay with me Sapphire. Rudnek's almost got us to a hospital." My brain was fuzzy but I was still thinking straight. "No! No hospitals! What'll we tell em?!" "We'll tell em me and Rudnek were hunting varen and we found you being attack by batarian slave traders and their drones got ya but we managed to save ya." He dabbed my forehead with some gauze and he got a needle and thread ready. "This is gonna hurt Sapphire. Rud put that thing on autopilot and get back here!" Next thing I knew he had that needle jabbing through my skin and I screamed bloody murder. I knew he was trying to help but my mind was gonna go loony soon. That needle jabbed my skin again and I kept jerking around. My vision grew blurry and my movements became more frantic.

"_Keep her still! I need to inject this radioactive dye into her bloodstream so we can keep track of her progress for this experiment."_

_Arms hold me down. I don't want any more tests; I don't want to be a lab rat anymore. I want to be free._

"_Let me go! Let me go! Get off of me!"_

"Rud keep her down!" "I'm trying Scyth but she's fighting real hard! I don't think she's lucid anymore." Pain kept searing my side and tears streamed down my face. I wasn't gonna let them run any more experiments on me. I'd had enough. I just wanted it to stop. "Get off of me! Get off!" Rudnek held me down with all of his weight and he rubbed my shoulder sympathetically. "It's okay Sapphire. It's over now." I could feel the medical thread being tied off and I realized I wasn't in an operating room but in Scyth's medical bay and I was with my partners, not genetic scientists. I could feel myself slip away into a cold, black sleep and I welcomed it with relief; before I left though I heard the boys say something to each other. "We need to find out what the hell happened to her." I could barely hear Scyth's response, "We gotta fix her up first, and then we'll deliver the data." Then there was nothing…


	4. A Beacon In th Darkness

Chapter 4

A Beacon In The Darkness

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. I opened my eyes in a daze and I could see another bed across from me. I turned my head to the right and saw a window let sunlight stream through. I gazed up at the ceiling, it was white. Where was I? I tilted my head forward a bit and I saw Rudnek and Scyth sleeping in chairs at the end of my bed. How long was I out? This must be a hospital.

That story better have worked. I looked around my bed and found safety rails on either side of the bed and there was a control panel on the left side of the bed. I inclined the bed so I was sitting up, I looked over to where the boys were sleeping and I cleared my throat. "How long I been here?" my voice sounded a bit hoarse and cracked but they heard me. Scyth and Rudnek leapt from their chairs and were on either side of the bed in half a second. Rudnek had my hand in his claw and it felt reassuring. "You've been here for five hours." I nodded and tried to swallow. My throat felt like it had gone dry. Scyth noticed and he brought me a cup of water. I have him a grateful smile and drank it. "When can I be discharged?" Rudnek let go of my hand and made his way over to the door. "I'll find out. Scyth will fill you in on what happened."

He left the room in search of a nurse and Scyth smoothed my hair back from my forehead. "Even under fire and ripped up you were still cursing at Rudnek and telling him you'd haunt his sorry ass for the rest of his life if you died." I chuckled half-heartedly and I grunted in pain, my side was still tender. Scyth looked real worried and I gave him a weak grin. "Don't get all soft and mushy on me or I'll rethink my choice of live action doctors." That got a smile out of him and he shook his head. "You're something else sprout." I gave him a saucy grin and patted his arm, "Aw that's just my charm. Works on you don't it? Now what's the story we gave these doctors?"

Scyth took the cup I had emptied and refilled it. I nodded my head in thanks and drank from it greedily while Scyth filled me in on the details. "We told em we were hunting varen on a nearby planet and we saw you trying to escape from batarian slave traders. We told em we saw you on the planet that we originally met on and told them that we didn't know how you wound up there but we'd return you back there if you lived long enough. Oh and we didn't get the chance to kill the batarians for ruining our hunt." I chuckled at his last remark, "Those bastards."

He smiled and Rudnek came in with a human doctor. He had short black hair, blue eyes and he wore a white lab coat _how typical._ Scyth backed away from me and I played my part. "Young lady do you know who these two men are?" I shook my head no and gave the doctor a confused, dazed look. "No, I mean not personally but I've seen them in the market." He frowned in response to my answer. "I see. What happened?" I fingered the blanket like I was shy and felt ashamed of how I ended up at the hospital. "I was hiking in the hills. I wanted some time alone to think and not many people go to the hills so that's where I went. I was captured and drugged by batarians. The next planet we landed on I pushed one of the slave traders, took his gun and I managed to get out of the cargo bay doors and ran. They sent drones after me. I got hit a couple of times and I shot at the drones but um…I don't think I actually hit any. The batarians caught up with me, I didn't get very far, and they were going to take me back to the ship but then these two showed up. They shot at the drones and the slavers left me there. I don't remember anything else."

The doctor scribbled a few notes and looked back up at me once he was done with his chart. "These two brought you aboard their ship and managed to get most of the larger drone pieces out of your side. Your right shoulder had second degree burns from blaster fire. They even managed to stop the bleeding and patch you back up. Though I have to say the needle work wasn't very good." He then looked over at Scyth and glared at him, like he should have done better. Scyth growled in response, "Let's see you try and stitch a person back together with a gaping side wound without any anesthetics." Rudnek shot Scyth an aggravated look, "Brother enough! Sir with all due respect you should be thanking us for saving this girl's life. Not criticizing my brother's sewing skills. We're krogan not salarian."

The doctor sighed and held up his hands in defeat. "Very well. Anyway we performed surgery on you and got the rest of the metal pieces out. We stitched you back up, gave you some blood transfusions, and treated your burns. Now is there anyone we can call? Also what is your name?" "My name is Sapphire, I work for Qweenik at a weapons kiosk. I'm afraid I do better selling the guns than shooting them. As for calling anyone that won't be necessary, these two can bring me back. They bought guns from us a few days ago. Qweenik will give you any five items of purchase each for free if you bring me back to him. Sound like a deal?"

The boys looked at each other and nodded. "You've got yourself a deal." Rudnek glanced back at the poor sucker we conned. "When do we take her out doc?" The doctor had his nose crinkled. It looked like he smelled something really sour but he was too polite to say anything about it. "She can go today. Just fill out the paperwork and she can go." Rudnek filled out the paperwork and they helped me aboard the ship, then we left orbit. I sat up in the cockpit with Rudnek while Scyth stood behind my chair. I pulled up coordinates for our destination. "Okay Rudnek that's our system right there. Let's go deliver our package." Scyth put his claws on my shoulder and I looked up into his face. "You're full of surprises sprout. Didn't know you could act." I gave him a mischievous smile and Scyth himself started to smile. "You seemed to do fine yourself big guy." Rudnek got us to a mass relay and we jumped two solar systems over to our destination spot. There was a ship waiting for us to port. It was a small cruiser ship. A light blinked on the board and video transmition was requesting for us to respond. I cleared my throat, "Transmition coming in. Patching it through." I flipped the switch and an asari's face appeared on screen. Her features were soft. She had bright blue eyes; her skin was almost purple in color. Her fringe was darker shades of blue and the tips were indeed purple. She wore a commando uniform, probably trying to look the part of a military officer. It was almost convincing, but her manner reminded me of the other information brokers I had come across on The Citadel. "Hello Rudnek, Scyth. Ah this must be the additional member you spoke of. A woman at that."

Her voice was on the alto side and it sounded like velvet moving through the breeze. Her last sentence was said in mild surprise and she had a smile on her face. "I'm impressed boys. I didn't think you'd take on a female, but it seems you have a few tricks of your own. What's your name?" I nodded to the asari on the monitor and spoke, "My name's Sapphire. What would your name happen to be Agent Violet?" I smirked at her reaction, _bingo_. Her pretty brow furrowed in frustration and her lips curved a bit downward. She blinked a couple of times, in disbelief no doubt. "I beg your pardon?" I gave her a smirk. "Your name Agent Violet." She laughed, it sounded like she was choking on something. Damn I was good. "I'm not an agent. I'm a commando and my name is Violet." I shrugged my shoulders indifferently, but inside I was laughing at her reaction.

It's not very often you can surprise an asari since they live so long and all. "Whatever you say Agent Violet. Your information tells us differently, plus your name just happens to be the pigment of your skin? Funny coincidence." The asari sighed and let her shoulders droop. "I can see why you chose her boys. Alright Sapphire you caught me, I'm an information agent, not a commando. " I inclined my head in acknowledgment, "Thank you for confirming what I already know. So shall we dock and give you the data disc?" The asari seemed impressed. "You put it on a disc?" I nodded and gave her my best professional look, "Yup and I even corrupted the data program they constructed and let loose that virus you gave us." Agent Violet gave me a satisfied grin and spoke cheerfully, "Alright. You may dock Rudnek. I'll see you in the loading bay."

Rudnek docked with the cruiser and the boys led the way onto Agent Violet's ship. Rudnek and Scyth carried their guns casually and kept me obstructed from the information broker's view. When she met us in the loading bay her voice sounded polite but friendly. "Rudnek, Scyth. Good to see you. Hiding that clever girl behind you I see. Come forward honey and let's make this exchange." The boys told me ahead of time they'd be acting like cold blooded killers so I was prepared for them to do their worst. "Where's our money?" growled Rudnek. Scyth barked right after him, "No money, no exchange." The agent silenced them with a tilt of her head and smiled, "Relax boys I have it here in my hands. Now, the data if you please." Scyth jabbed a claw into her shoulder, "She lost a lot of blood to get this disc for you. We got her patched up but you better be paying for her bill. Plus bury her records at the hospital so no questions are asked." The asari was quiet for a moment. "Let me see her." The boys stepped aside and I could see Agent Violet was wearing a close fitted blue and black suit.

I could feel my body shaking, I needed to rest. I'd do that as soon as this was over. "Step forward Sapphire." I took a step forward and the action made my stomach roll. I shuddered but looked her right in the eye and stood with my chin held high. She walked around me and looked me over. "You do look like you got banged up… You two can go find something to eat in the galley. I'm gonna get her examined. Come along Sapphire." I walked with her over to an elevator and its doors slid open. She gripped me just below my right elbow and gently guided me into the elevator. Her voice no longer held that fake charm that she used earlier. Instead it was low and somewhat concerned, "I know you're putting up a front but once the doors are closed you can stop pretending to be okay. Alright?" I nodded my head briskly and when the doors closed I finally quit fighting back my shaking and it took over my body. I trembled all over and the asari put an arm around my waist. "Put all of your weight on me." I did as I was told and she helped me limp out of the elevator. We were in her medical bay. "Naila I've got a patient for you."

The asari doctor was sky blue in color, white spots covering her fringe, and azure blue eyes. She held out a hand and I felt weightless. She lifted me into the air and gently placed me on the table with her biotics. "What happened? No doubt she's the one that recovered the information." Her voice even sounded like it came from a blue sky. It was light, soft, and I could practically hear sunshine coming through her words. _God I sound like such a chic. _ I was shaking pretty bad now, it was making me stutter a bit and I felt hot and cold at the same time. "I-I was attacked by drones. A drone I blew up ended up tearing my left side t-to pie-pieces. M-my right shoulder has second degree burns…from blaster fire. I got brought to... a hospital. They took the pieces out, and… I got a blood transfusion, stitched up…. all that…"

I was sweating and shivering now. My breathing was unsteady. "Naila what's wrong with her?" Dr. Naila frowned. She listened to my chest, felt my forehead and took my pulse. "I don't know. Derza I need you to meld your system with hers. See if we can get her stabilized." Derza, that's what her name was. Derza's fingertips touched the sides of my head. They felt cool. She melded her central nervous system to mine and I was able to stop shaking. Derza maintained the connection but she gave Naila a startled look. "Naila her nervous system! You're not gonna believe this! It feels similar to our own people!" Dr. Naila went over to a drawer and picked up a needle. "I'm getting a blood sample." Derza looked back down at me in amazement and murmured, "We'll get you fixed don't worry. In the meantime you need to sleep. I can help you get there." Derza took a deep breathe through her nose and slowly exhaled through her mouth. "Relax Sapphire. Imagine that every invisible connection between all living organisms can now be seen by the naked eye. You can feel those connections. Concentrate on what it feels like to be laying down on grass. Feel the way the grass prickles under your body as you lay down. You can feel the breeze go through your hair as you look up at the sky. Concentrate on it and picture yourself there." I envisioned her words and I could feel myself slipping away to a little valley. I almost felt relaxed too as I began to see bright blue skies in my mind's eye but then I was bombarded by voices and images I didn't recognize.

"_DNA fusion 1 is holding"_

"_Biotic levels are normal"_

_White coats, needles, running through a maze bare foot. Electric shocks are delivered to my feet when I slow down._

"_Subject is doing well."_

"_The ultimate fighting machine"_

"_Her body accepted the first DNA fusion. Why not try expanding her physical features?"_

I opened my eyes to see Derza sitting next to me with her arm flat on the table. Purple blood goes through a tube from her arm and into mine….what's happening? I open my mouth to speak but Doctor Naila's fingers cover my mouth. "Don't speak. Just rest." Her voice was gentle but firm. The kind of firm that most people wouldn't argue with. I'm not most people though. "Blood… what are you doing?" my voice sounded weak, even to me. "I'll explain when you're feeling better. Your friends are fine." Why I didn't pursue this I don't know but my eyes drifted over to Derza. She gave me a small smile. "You're gonna be okay Sapphire. Sleep. We'll do business later." I went to sleep. I woke up with a start and sat up fast. Hands immediately held my shoulders and I felt very dizzy. "Hey kid take it easy." I open my eyes to see who's talking to me.

It's Derza. She looks concerned. "You gave me a real fright in the elevator when you collapsed." I sat up far enough to lean my weight on my forearms and elbows. I didn't feel dizzy anymore but I didn't want to push it. "What? I didn't collapse. You brought me up to the medical bay. Doctor Naila helped me up onto the table." Dr. Naila flashed a light into my eyes with a frown. "She was delirious when you brought her up Derza. I'm surprised she walked as far as she did with that so called blood transfusion. They didn't even give her more than half a pint of blood. I can't believe they discharged her with only that much in her. Sapphire you collapsed in the elevator. I had to have Derza help me get you onto the table with our biotics. You weren't coherent by the time you came through those doors. Do you feel cold?" I looked away from Dr. Naila's gaze and stared at the floor as I sat up the rest of the way. "Um.. no I feel fine. You're saying I passed out from not having enough blood?" She nodded, "That's exactly what I'm saying."

Derza leaned against the sterile countertop of Dr. Naila's medical bay and gave me a cursory glance. "It's a good thing Doctor Naila had some human blood on supply otherwise we would have had to take you to another hospital. So you know my name congratulations." My brain felt very sluggish. Had I been dreaming? I thought I stepped out of the elevator with Derza's help on my own two feet. What were those images all about? Why did I dream that Derza gave me her own blood? Human and asari aren't blood compatible. I must have been really out of it. "Thanks… So am I gonna be okay?" Doctor Naila nodded and felt my pulse. "I believe so. Derza has done as your friends requested and buried your case at the hospital and paid that bill, though quite frankly they should be sued for almost getting you killed. Horrible care, I've never seen such sloppy work in my whole career."

Derza held out her hand in front of me, "Alright kid I held up my end of the deal. Time for you to hold up yours." I pulled the data discs from my cargo pants and handed it to Derza's awaiting hands. "A deal's a deal." She pocketed the disc and she held her hand back out to help me off Dr. Naila's table. "Pleasure doing business with you Sapphire." Her fingers brushed mine. _I'm going to look into you more._ I blinked in confusion and hopped down from the table with her help. I felt a bit warmer with the physical movement. I raised an arm to my brow and wiped my forehead with it. She held out her hand to shake. "I hope to see you someday again, under better circumstances." I took her hand and gave it a firm shake. "Same here." Doctor Naila checked my temp again. "You still have a bit of a temperature. No hard labor for the next couple days. Drink plenty of liquids." I cleared my throat and responded, "Yes ma'am." The two asari looked at each other with surprised expressions on their faces. Why the hell did they seem so surprised by my polite response? Did I look like I didn't have any manners? "There a problem?" Derza shook her head. "No. Go gather your two brutes and get off my ship now. I've got a job to do." That's how we departed too.

Rudnek and Scyth took control of the cockpit and they sent me off to bed. When I next woke up we were back on Taiza, seems that's the name of the planet we had been on before our mission. "Sapphire!" Scyth's voice rose over the roar of the engine. It made me snap my eyes open and I almost jumped out of the bottom bunk. I remembered just in time though that the top bunk wasn't very far from my temple so I resisted springing from the bed. "Wake up! We're here." I swung my legs off the bunk and got up. I felt better after taking that nap, the doctor was right I just needed fluids and rest. Losing blood takes a hard toll on the body and the hospital hadn't filled me with enough. They had no idea I was a freelancer though either.

I smiled to myself and met Scyth and Rudnek down at the cargo bay. I had started a new life after all. I walked out onto the dirt and smelled the fresh air that rolled over the hills. On The Citadel I was a punk who ran on the streets stealing from Alliance types and getting in squabbles with other gangs. Here I was a freelance, a person who takes jobs as they see fit, no rules to follow, no meaningless bloodshed over territory… just honest credits and two partners to watch my back. "Let's go pay our pal Qweenik a visit and see if he's made any progress on my armor." Scyth and Rudnek walked along either side of me with their heads held high. "You know sprout I think we're gonna stick together for a long time." I patted Scyth on the shoulder with a smile, "Me too Scyth. We're gonna make our way in the 'verse. Just watch."

Rudnek patted me on the back and we walked over to Qweenik's store. He had a closed sign on the door but we could hear him working in the back room. I swung myself over the counter and knocked on the panel. The noise stopped and I saw a camera zoom in on me from the corner of the ceiling. Qweenik's voice came through a speaker somewhere. "Sapphire! You're back. One moment." The panel slid open and Qweenik beckoned us to come in. Me and the boys entered the back room and saw that Qweenik had a lot of cybernetic bots everywhere. The sight impressed and confused me. "Qweenik what is all this?" Qweenik had a mischievous look on his face. "Glad you asked. Your jacket was created with cybernetic technology. The craftsmanship is remarkable. The news gets even better. I've found a way to install your own weapons rack. I'm using the bots to finish my idea now. However there is no way to conceal your weapons. You'll have to carry them on your person in other ways. A simple holster will do."

I shook Qweenik's hand and I could see an inventive spark in his eyes. He must really enjoy having a project. I wonder if he makes his own weapons. "Qweenik are you a weapons producer?" He pointed to himself, "Me? I've made weapons before when I used to be part of a company. But I left the business because it was too generalized, guns weren't made with personalization. They were all the same. Here I can tinker with the models and make them better for my customers. Makes business better." He handed me my jacket. The material felt different, a bit thicker. "What else did you do to this?" I put it on. It felt like there was some kind of lining in it. It was certainly warmer. "I've made it bullet proof, resistant to fire as well, plus you won't have to worry about cold weather." I looked over at the simple weapons seller that took on my secret project and I shook my head. "Qweenik you didn't have to add to the armor." He leaned up against his workbench and twiddled his thumbs. "I know. But I enjoyed you giving me such a fun and challenging project I thought I could do something for you in return. Besides, it gave me more little challenges to overcome."

I gave Qweenik a smile and made him an offer. "Qweenik how'd you like to personally handle and create weapons for me, Rudnek, and Scyth?" His eyes widened in answer to my question, "Really? You'd, you'd let me do that?" I glanced over at the guys and they seemed amused by Qweenik's behavior. They gave me the okay and I nodded. "Of course! Yes, yes. I'll do it." I snickered and shook his hand. "Good. I also made an order for some armor updates for the boys it should be here by tomorrow. Paid in full too." Scyth and Rudnek looked at each other in surprise. Rudnek boomed, "You did what?" Scyth chipped in a short question as well. "When did ya do that?" I smirked and crossed my arms over my chest. "When we were on our mission." I chuckled at their expressions. Qweenik opened his omni tool and cleared his throat to get our attention. "By the way Sapphire I received a message requesting you at the city. A friend of yours wishes to speak with you; says he's from C-Sec." "Really? Looks like we're heading to the city boys."


End file.
